The Unexpected Expected
by EternalCullen
Summary: A Rose and Dimitri One-Shot. Dimitri's reaction to learning about Rose's planned pregnancy.


The ownership of all characters related to and involving the novels of _The Vampire Academy_ and _Bloodlines_ Series remain the sole property of Richelle Mead, the Penguin Group and any affiliates.

No copyrights have been infringed on maliciously.

A/N: This is my first attempt at anything other than _Twilight_ related characters. I'm still familiarizing myself with the V.A. and B.L. characters and books, so please bear with me and if I've gotten anything wrong, my apologies in advance. Enjoy! (Oh, and for those of you who are unfamiliar with my previous FF's, I suffer from a genuine disorder – I can't write anything short, not even one-shot's.)

Rose and Dimitri One-shot

~ The Unexpected Expected ~

"Rose?"

Calling out in search as I closed the double-doors to our suite behind me with one hand whilst carrying in the parcels with the other, I set down the numerous cartons of Chinese takeout I had been order to find at any cost on the polished oak table in the dining room and looked around the rooms tastefully decorated in muted gold and crimson, searching for the person responsible for sending me out for the food in the first place. Personally, the oily, orientially-based cuisine had never appealed much to my palate, but Rose was less discriminating in her tastes…food, as long as it was fried and carbohydrate rich was good enough, no matter what it was.

Shaking my head in affectionate indulgence as I thought about the appetite that was hard to appease and what I willingly sacrificed in order to satisfy it, I shrugged off the duster and hung it on a chair closest to me, walking through the set of rooms situated in the royal wing that had been our home for the better part of eight years as I heard the answer to my question.

"I'm in the bathroom, comrade. Did you find the food?"

Striding through our bedroom as I headed to the adjoining bathroom, I groaned quietly to myself as I saw the state of the bed I had left barely two hours ago. It was a wreck; the fitted sheet had been pulled from the corners and scrunched in the middle with the duvet, the pillows were strewn over the plush, beige carpeted floors and the top mattress sagged to the side as it lay lopsided over the base…the memory evoked by the cause of such disorder only hours before was a pleasurable reminder of what I knew awaited me.

Sex with the woman I had made my wife five years before was even to this day, almost indescribably sweet. Connection aside – and it was a bond that I cherished almost as much as her unshakable love – the physical satisfaction was unmatched and was powerful enough to create a reaction I was never able to hide. Adjusting the tight fit of my jeans against an erection created by the sight of the bed as it threatened to rip apart the seam of the zipper, I strode into the bathroom and stopped short at the sight that greeted me…a sight as breath-taking as the night I had met her.

Rosemarie Hathaway-Belikov sat perched atop the marble top of the sink, smirking playfully at me as she took in what I could only assume was my unguarded, slightly stupefied expression – one she was well used to seeing by now.

In the years since our marriage, the stoic, outer reserve I had been taught to maintain at all costs since early adolescence, throughout my training and eventual Guardianship had almost completely crumbled and fallen away. In public, the duties and responsibilities we had sworn to uphold to our Moroi took precedence; they always would, but when alone and within the privacy of our love, there was no longer the need to control or moderate what we felt for each other.

Viewed as trailblazers in our world, the disclosure of our initial relationship and eventual marriage had set a new precedent; a precedent that broke the taboos, boundaries and restrictions that had been in place since the start of the Guardian initiative. It hadn't been popular opinion and the outcry that had followed as we became more outwardly demonstrative – refusing to be ashamed of what so few ever truly experienced – had grown louder as it coupled with the dissension to the newly appointed Monarch and her recently discovered half-sibling, but with the resistance that we had expected, also came the ace up our sleeve: the Queen herself…she was a trump card that was unbeatable.

With the unflinching support and approval of Vasilisa Dragomir, the majority of detractors had been silenced of their pessimism. There had of course been those who, despite falling into line with their new Queen's decree, had continued to propagate an undercurrent of negativity and disapproval for the decision, but as the law allowing Dhampir Guardians to wed each other whilst still in service had passed unanimously and others had followed our example; seamlessly blending duty with love until no one could tell the difference, it was finally accepted amongst the Moroi hierarchy. There would always be those who found reason to fault it, but as Rose had once so offhandedly pointed out, they would just have to deal with it.

Eying now, the woman who had been partly responsible for that transformation as she refused to allow society to dictate to her what she should or shouldn't want or how she should behave; excelling as she always did at breaking the rules that would bind her to convention, I took in the lacy black panties and tight, white t-shirt that barely contained her full, braless breasts, swallowing convulsively at the sight. Her silky torrent of dark mahogany tresses fell in tumbled disarray around her shoulders and spilled down her back as it was reflected back from the mirrored wall behind her, the harsh white light of the bathroom doing little to highlight her flaws, but merely her perfections.

The dusky-hued skin, slightly more tanned than usual from the time spent recently in Turkey with her parents, was perfectly smooth and unblemished…her large, almond-shaped eyes of deep brown; not as dark as my own, but fathomless enough to become irrevocably trapped in for eternity sparkled back up at me…her full, bow-shaped lips that entranced me awake or asleep curved bewitchingly…the curves, planes, dips and angles of her exquisite face I knew so well…it all made up the individual parts of the whole that had instantly captivated me, despite my best efforts to resist her inescapable charm from the moment we had met.

Even angry, defiant and fiercely protective of the girl she had pledged to serve and protect, I had instantly recognized her as a kindred spirit that night in the quiet, Portland alley where I had eventually tracked them down; one that I would soon come to love and revere more than the duty I had myself sworn…something she knew well as she sat watching me with a thoroughly knowing, thoroughly smug expression animating her exotic features.

"Hey, handsome…so, did you find the food?"

Smiling at her in loving exasperation before replying, I moved to her and placing my hands on the knees of her crossed legs, spread them gently to stand between the space I had just created, cupping her hips with fingers that were playfully clutching as I pulled her towards me, rocking my pelvis and the hardened proof of my unending desire for her against the apex of her thighs. Wrapping her long, bare legs around the back of my thighs, I only barely stifled a quiver of delight as her seeking hands slide beneath the hem of my t-shirt, inhaling sharply as her trimmed nails raked gently against the flexing muscles of my abdomen just above the waistband of the jeans that felt even tighter than before as she smirked up at me.

Swallow roughly again as I reined control over myself, I quirked a brow at her, knowing exactly what she was up to. One of the many ways in which my adored wife continued to prove to me just how rickety my once lauded control was around her, was to constantly tease me. At times I could simply smirk down at her and do my best to ignore it, but there were times when I could not, hence the state of the bed in the other room.

"Yes, I found your food, Roza," I answered her indulgently as I bent to place a kiss on her forehead in greeting, not quite understanding the increase in her already ravenous appetite or wanting to be side-tracked from the answer I wanted by kissing her properly. "Why the sudden craving? We ate a three course meal less than six hours ago with Lissa and Christian and your exercise regime hasn't been as strenuous as normal, so why is your metabolism suddenly in overdrive?"

She may no longer have been my student, but it was still imperative to stay in peak, physical condition in order to fulfil our duty to the Moroi we were charged to keep safe; Rose especially. As the officially designated primary Guardian, or near guard to the Queen when in public, she could not afford to slacken off, though over the past week, it had seemed as though that was exactly what she had been doing.

Not bringing it up, as to call her dedication into question would not end well for me; sleeping on the couch with my height was not something I would ever deliberately seek out, it had not really concerned me. In all the time I had known Rose; her devotion to Lissa had never wavered – not even when she had left her to seek me out in Siberia had the then Princess been out of her thoughts for longer than an hour. To think that it was wavering now was ludicrous, but there was something about her that concerned me…she wasn't entirely herself. Sliding my hands upwards from her hips, they meandered gently upwards over her ribs, the sides of her straining breasts, her shoulder blades, and the neck pulsing with the vitality of her heartbeat, finally settling on bones of her jaw as I cupped her face with tender concern.

Tilting her face further upwards, I lowered my head as she continued to tickle along my midriff with inquisitive fingers. "Are you all right, Roza? You've been acting…odd, this last week. Not strange, but also not yourself. Sleeping longer, training less, eating more…if there's something wrong, please tell me. I know you still think that keeping things from me is a way of shielding me, but we're married for goodness sake. ' _In sickness and in health, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, till death do us part,_ remember? Those were our vows."

Recalling the day of our wedding in the ancient church in Baia as we repeated those pledges and others before those we loved, was a powerfully evocative recollection. Deciding to have the wedding in Siberia had been my future bride's decision; one that had caught me completely off guard, but one that had been wholly appreciated. It made more sense – Rose had pointed out in a rare moment of crystal clear logic…for her, as we had lounged together in a deep, hot bath together, after I had eventually managed to coax a date out of her – that we had it there. The expense of flying out my family and friends to the States would have been exorbitant, despite Lissa's very generous offer to pay for everything, but for the more affluent Moroi to fly out to Russia had been a better solution. Rose's own parents – residing primarily in Istanbul – had been closer still to the venue, so it had made perfect sense.

Smiling at me, Rose forced me back into the present as she abandoned her teasing games and slid her hands over mine, twisting my right palm upwards as she turned her head and pressed gentle kisses to the calloused palm. "Nothing's wrong, Dimitri. I promise. I'm just giving my body a little bit of a break for a while – no big deal. And as for the food, well, that's probably going to go on for a while…there isn't much I can do about that for at least nine months to two-years, I guess, depending on how long I'm going to be breast-feeding for. Besides, aren't you the one always complaining about my appetite? You should be used to me eating for ten by this stage, so two shouldn't be a problem."

Relieved that she was teasingly honest with me and never appreciating more the ability to know when she wasn't, I breathed out a sigh; satisfied that nothing more serious was wrong, even as her words did not yet register. As Dhampir: vampire/human hybrids, we were immune to ailments that affected the rest of the human race: the common cold, diseases…if our bones broke, they healed within days, if we bruised, they healed within hours, but death was not an impossibility…we, unlike the Strigoi we exterminated should they pose a threat to our charges the Moroi; a peaceful race of Magic-wielding vampires, were not immortal.

Pressing a kiss to the tip of her nose, I nodded in agreement with her words before extricating myself from her limbs with difficulty, turning to leave so that I could set up the food, but I stopped again at the door, frozen for an entirely different reason this time. I wasn't usually this slow on the uptake; the concern for Rose's health making the synapses in my brain fire more sluggishly than usual, but as the words she had just uttered to comfort me slowly assimilated into my conscious, I fixated on a few of them as the rest settled into place and the penny finally dropped… _nine months, eating for two…breast-feeding_ …

Swinging back to her at the doorframe a heartbeat later, my eyes widened as her mischievous grin broadened in reply to my incredulity. Curling her right index finger, she beckoned me forward. Moving as though she controlled me, which admittedly, she did most of the time, I walked back to her as though in a daze. Once again back within the embrace of her limbs, she looked to her right, raising her brows in question for me to follow her gaze. Looking down beside her to the basin that matched the marble countertop, I noticed an empty box and an indicator lying atop it. It was an oddly shaped object made of white plastic with a thicker base made up of a bright pink cross.

It was an odd sensation looking down at it…the blood was pounding so loudly in my ears that it created a hazy, droning noise that I could not shake. My heart beat frantically; too fast to be normal or healthy and the hands I had placed again against Rose's hips shook almost uncontrollably. Hearing her soft laughter as she hugged herself to me, laying her head against my pounding heart, I looked down at her thick hair…the hair I was still more than mildly obsessed with, but I could not open my mouth; my mind in a tailspin as I tried to comprehend what she was trying to tell me without actually saying the words.

"You're speechless, comrade. It's not often that I shock you into silence...other people, yes, but not you."

Picking up the finger of plastic as she moved fractionally away from the chest that was heaving now as it gasped for breath, Rose held it up to me for a closer inspection, but I had no need to see it closer…I only had the need to find my tongue again.

"Rose," I chocked out as my English almost failed me and I very nearly reverted to my native tongue; my barely discernible Russian accent already thicker and more pronounced than usual. "What are you…are you saying that you're…are you…?"

Unable to complete a full sentence, my wife produced a smile full of feminine wile as she placed the proof of what I was almost disbelieving of down again. Gliding her hands up my chest, she cupped my face between them as she pulled me down for a kiss, placing her soft lips against mine as the tip of her tongue peeked out to trace them before greedily enveloping them. Clutching her to me as the control I had wrestled over my body failed, I changed the angle of the kiss, slanting my mouth fully over hers as I plunged my tongue into her moist, luscious mouth, groaning into the kiss as my breathing stuttered. Losing ourselves in the sweet surrender of our mouths, time seemed to stand still for days, but with a soft moan, Rose eventually pulled back, pressing soft, gentle kisses to my lips still parted and wanting as she delivered her bombshell, whispering into the open cavity of my mouth.

"What I'm trying to say, Dimitri Belikov, is that in just over eight months, you are going to be a father…I am going to be a mother… _we_ are going to be parents."

Shuddering in her arms at those words even as my lids slid over my eyes, I leaned heavily against her, resting my forehead against her own as my legs began to tremble and the strength leached from my body… _you are going to be a father…I am going to be a mother…we are going to be parents_ …the words echoed and reverberated around my skull, filling it with sheer, unequalled joy. It was so powerfully similar to the elation I had felt when Lissa had used Spirit to restore me from Strigoi to Dhampir that I had no words to adequately vocalize it. Overcome with emotion, I just barely stopped myself from weeping unashamedly in the arms of the woman I loved.

Laughing with delight at my reaction, Rose stroked my unbound hair, kissing every part of me that she could reach as I pressed my face into her neck, cradling her too me as my left hand slid slowly to her abdomen, cupping protectively over it. It was still perfectly flat and toned; I would have known if there had been anything different in the body I knew as well as my own, but I could somehow feel it now…feel the life we had created together; an everlasting symbol of our love.

Breathing through the shuddering that still racked my body, I exhaled deeply, regaining composure once again as I pulled back slightly, looking down at the woman who now held my entire world within her. "How," I asked inanely, still hugging her tightly to me as my large hand – adorned with only the wide, silver band Rose had slide onto my finger on our wedding day – continued to span her abdomen in dazed wonder.

Chuckling throatily, Rose asked the obvious. "Really, comrade? You need me to have _the talk_ with you? It was bound to happen…you can't keep your hands off me."

Shaking my head, this time not in exasperation, but in almost bewildering disbelief, I asked again, hoping I got more words out this time. "No. You know that's not what I meant. You've only just gone off birth control…you said it could take up to six months before the hormonal balance in your body had restored itself after being on it for so long, even after receiving the tattoo. You went off it three weeks ago!"

Deciding to make a quick trip to Istanbul three weeks ago to visit my in-laws had resulted in a conversation that we had been putting off for a while…and had finally resulted in Rose flushing her contraceptives down the toilet once our stalemate had been resolved a day later. The possibility that I had impregnated her in Turkey – right beneath the nose of her menacing, ever watchful father – was quickly becoming a reality.

Before hearing the startling information revealed by my Moroi cousin and his Alchemist wife concerning the child that had been born to Dhampir parents – something that had never been possible before as a genetic anomaly amongst us made it impossible to conceive with anyone other than Moroi or Humans – I had accepted – albeit it with great sadness and regret – that I would never have children of my own. Rose was the only woman I would ever consider having children with, but that had been an impossibility…or so we had thought.

Since learning that Olive Sinclair – a Dhampir guardian who had been restored from Strigoi using Spirit in much the same way as I had been – had given birth to a son whose father was not Moroi or Human, but a fellow Dhampir, we had protected the secret of little Declan's true parentage and had naturally taken precautions to prevent the same from happening again, uncertain even that we could repeat their miracle: spirit tattoo or not. Our lives were too public, something like that could never be kept under wraps. It had only been luck and timing on our part that it hadn't happened before we had discovered it even could, even though we were uncertain still that the same quirk would work for us. Both Rose and I had been touched by Spirit in different ways – it could have been too good to be true.

I had been more than ready for fatherhood by that stage and eager to discover if it was possible, but with Rose seven years my junior, she had balked at the thought of becoming a mother that young. Even after our marriage, she hadn't been ready. I had respected that, knowing that she would only resent me and eventually our child if I pushed her into something she was ill prepared for, so I had been willing to wait, knowing that I would eventually wear her down.

Eventually, as it turned out, was less than a month ago, and now, she was pregnant…pregnant with my child. There was no doubt that it was mine – our loyalty to each other was as steadfast as our dedication to Lissa and Christian; Spirit it seemed, would continue to touch our lives for as long as we lived.

This would be surprising new to most; they all knew of Rose's previous aversions to motherhood, and it would certainly create a few logistical problems, but it should be simple enough to iron out the details. It was take some rearranging with Lissa's secondary Guardian and obviously another would have to be brought in to stand as far-guard, but it wasn't impossible considering the battalion she always had with her…nothing nowadays was impossible.

Shrugging, but not looking in any way apologetic about it, Rose stroked her finger down the length of my nose, before tapping the end of it as she broke me from my reverie. "Well, you _are_ a Russian god, so we probably shouldn't be surprised that you knocked me up so quickly. Are you okay with this – you look a little paler than normal? I mean, this was what we had discussed in Turkey, right? We didn't know if it would work…we decided we would try anyway and if it didn't, it meant we would know for sure. I mean…you were there when I got the tattoo. You watched those pills flush down the toilet with me, remember?"

Hearing the sudden indecision and worry in her voice; Rose was never uncertain about anything, spurred me into response. Wrapping my arms around her waist, I picked her up and swung her gently around, grinning broadly without any reservation, emotion thickening my voice again as I reassured her.

"Of course I'm okay with this…how could you ever doubt that, Roza? You've given me everything I could possible hope for and more and even if you had decided that you _never_ wanted children…even if you decided that you did, but that we never could, that it wouldn't work for us like it did for Neil and Olive, I would still be better off _with you_ than _without you_. I love you so much, _moye serdtse, moya dusha_ …thank you…thank you for this.

Wrapping her arms around my neck, Rose sniffed delicately at my impassioned declaration, showing a rare vulnerability that I knew she very consciously hid from the world. Rubbing her nose against mine, I carried her back into the bedroom, laying her gently on the centre of the bed that was already a shambles. Leaning over her, I rested my right arm on the other side of her hip, leaning down as I rolled the edge of her t-shirt up over her flat belly with my left, exposing the place that would soon swell and grow with our child and the spot that that was now adorned with her newest tattoo of a _R_ and _D_ intertwined just above her right hipbone.

Stroking gentle fingers over it now as they travelled from hipbone to hipbone, I dipped my thumb into her bellybutton. Feeling her fingers interweave in my hair as she raised her left leg so that it curved inwards towards my exploring fingers, Rose gently massaged my scalp with the short edge of her nails, curling her other beneath her head to look at me.

Aside from the shock of Rose's sudden desire to become a mother, there would be shock of a different kind that reverberated throughout our world. This baby would be the first to be publically acknowledged as a child conceived of two Dhampir; Declan was still viewed as Adrian and Sydney's and considering that he was Dhampir and that the children that had been conceived after him were also, he had never been considered as anything other than an Ivashkov, but this would be different. The curiosity and scrutiny that would involve Rose's pregnancy would be intense and at times intensively invasive. It was nothing I was certain that we could not handle; neither one of us would be anything less than fiercely protective of our child, but still, I wanted nothing to jeopardise the safety of my family.

Lowering my head slowly, I lay my right cheek against the flesh ridged with subtle muscle, resting against it. Rubbing back and forth against her, my lips pursed on the last pass, pressing them gently to her skin as I kissed it repeatedly, making a slow, sweeping foray across her belly whilst the euphoria I felt continued to pound through my blood and the protective possessiveness I already felt around her seemed to amplify exponentially.

"I love you, Dimitri," she murmured as the edge of her silver wedding rings ran lightly over my scalp and I shivered in response. "Thank you for waiting…thank you for being patient with me until I felt I was ready…or ready enough I should say. I'm still not a hundred percent certain that I'm going to be anything other than a mediocre mother, but I know that you will be an _exceptional_ father, so if that's the case, then I figure that if our kid, or kids, have at least one good parent, then they should be okay."

Raising my head, but not my lips, I quirked my brows sardonically at her confession. With the track record that she shared with her own mother, the esteemed Guardian, Janine Hathaway, it was not surprising that Rose would be apprehensive about having the torch of motherhood passed to her. My mother and grandmother were the polar opposites of Janine, so the concept of hesitant maternal instincts was still new to me. The fact that Rose was now confessing it meant she was more concerned than she was really letting on.

Moving further up her body with one last, lingering kiss over her abdomen, I caged her in, smirking down at her as her eyes lit up at my expression and our noses almost touched. "You are going to be a wonderful mother – how could you think otherwise? Look at how you are with Charlotte and she's only your goddaughter. You love her more fiercely than you do her mother, which I never thought possible."

Lissa and Christian's two year old daughter; our goddaughter, was a happy, effervescent, thoroughly irresistible little girl who instantly captivated anyone she met. Rose, despite her initial restraint towards the newborn, soon found any excuse to hold her, touch her, pick her up and cradle her and was deeply reluctant and resentful to release her…even to her own parents.

Laughing softly at the thought of her precious godchild, Rose nodded in resignation, knowing that my logic could never be argued with before she suddenly frowned, remembering something I said as she shook her head. "I don't love her more than I love Lissa – I love them equally, but you do have a point. When I found out, or when I suspected rather, I wasn't angry or scared or resentful…I was eager and excited, but I wanted to be sure before I told you. That's why I sent you out for the Chinese. I needed to know for certain and didn't want you walking in on me whilst I was waiting for the results."

Nipping gently at her nose, I scowled down at her, pretending outrage at her underhanded tactics, but I could feel no real anger…how could I when she had just made me so happy?

"So that was the real reason I had to go driving around looking for a Chinese restaurant? So that you could be sure? How long have you suspected...have you told Lissa?" Rose had been the first to know when Lissa had learnt she was pregnant with Charlotte; it had annoyed Christian, but he had long ago accepted that he shared Lissa's affection with Rose – albeit reluctantly, so I figured it would be the same for her.

Shrugging with surprising coyness, Rose replied. "For about a week now – it's why I've been less stringent in training and why I've been sleeping more. I thought at first it was some sort of delayed jet-lag from the trip to Turkey, but when the nausea began and the lethargy followed, I began to think otherwise and no, I haven't told Lissa yet – I haven't told anyone. You're the father, so if anyone deserves to know first, it's you; I don't want you sulking like Christian did. I'll tell Lissa in a few days. When she finds out, it's guaranteed that she'll demand to be the godmother."

"You've had morning sickness?" My voice was alarmed as I pushed aside the confession that she had been keeping this from me for a week and the heckling about Christian. Poor Lissa had suffered terribly from it during her first trimester and the last thing I wanted was for my own wife to suffer through the same. Watching a frantic Christian had given me a new appreciation for something I had always considered part and parcel of the miracle of pregnancy.

Shaking her head, Rose traced along the curve of my cheekbone. "No – not really. I've just been a little queasy but not enough to actually warrant vomiting. If I had been, you would have noticed and become suspicious. I hope I don't go through what Liss did…that was horrible. I was so happy by then that the bond had been broken. Being empathetic is one thing, but experiencing it with her… _through her_ , would have been awful."

Nodding in understanding, I too was glad for that. The bond that had formally linked them had been more than useful in our attempts to keep Lissa safe, but to have it during her pregnancy would have been unpleasant and not to mention dangerous as it impeded her ability to protect both our Queen and herself.

"Have you been to the doctor to confirm yet?"

"No, but I'm pretty sure I am. My body already feels different. My breasts are more sensitive, my sense of smell is _off the charts_ and I…I don't know. I just feel like I've been altered in some small way."

Grinning wolfishly down at her, I made note of everything she said; my attention never more attuned to her than now, but there was another thing I was now fixated on as I felt the familiar curl of desire for this woman sink throughout my body, intensified by the arousal of her confession.

"Your breasts, you say? Sensitive how?"

Standing suddenly, I grabbed the back of my navy t-shirt and pulled it over my head, raking my fingers through the shoulder-length hair that had tumbled forward to fall into my face. Shucking my boots as Rose chuckled eagerly at me; I sprang back onto the bed, straddling her prone figure as she bit her bottom lip, worrying it sexily as she all but moaned up at me, already anticipating where my line of questioning was heading and headed in the same direction. The Chinese apparently, was now a long way off.

Stroking her fingertips upward along the vaulting of the ribs I had exposed when I had pushed her t-shirt up to expose her abdomen, Rose continued on with the exploration, capturing the rolled hem and pulling it ever upwards with agonizing slowness, teasing me as my lips curved upwards and my lungs felt like they were gasping for air, but the teasing witch stopped short of revealing them completely, halting as the full bottom curve of her creamy, lightly-tanned flesh was uncovered.

"Well," she purred seductively. "They feel fuller already and my nipples are reacting to even the softest material…even well-washed cotton." Demonstrating explicitly, the dusky peaks pushed against the material of the shirt, plainly visible through the white cotton. They were hardened nubs that I knew well…kissing, teasing and sucking on them for hours at a time; sometimes to the point when they would become unbearably swollen and almost painful to the touch, had fully acquainted me with them.

Running the flat of her palms over the malleable mounds, Rose caught each straining nipple between her thumb and index fingers, pulling and tugging at them through the cotton as she whimpered softly. "I think," she uttered breathlessly, "that as my husband, it's your responsibility to ease the ache you've created, don't you?"

Needing no further offering, the head of my cock already slick with pre-cum and throbbing to be released, I lunged forward, keeping my weight on my arms on either side of her, opening my mouth over her left nipple and tonguing her roughly through the thin material of her shirt before switching to her right, groaning against her as Rose writhed beneath me, her fingers frantically pulling at my buckle, slinging the belt to the side with the stake still attached as it thudded dully against the thick carpet.

Nimbly dexterous fingers made short work of the top button of my jeans and the zipper below it as I continued to suck with greedy bliss as the cotton became wet and clung. Releasing each one with a reluctant tug, I blew on the wet fabric as it moulded to her nipple and areola, creating a shiver of ecstasy from my wife beneath me as she jerked the jeans and the boxers down my hips, her seeking hand finding my cock as she wrapped her slender fingers around it, squeezing tightly as she began to glide it up over the swollen cockhead, collecting the semen already gathered there and using it as lubricant as she masturbated the rest of the throbbing length…it made me momentarily abandon her breasts and drove me wild.

Shifting downwards in a movement that blurred with speed, I slide my hands into her panties and tugged them roughly down her legs as she tried to help, impatiently kicking them off. Standing at the foot of our bed, I dropped them as well as my own clothing to the floor, clenching my teeth as I watched her pull the dampened t-shirt over her head to fling it haphazardly to the left, her fingers instantly finding her nipples again as she moaned, opening her legs and allowing them to fall apart, revealing the glistening folds partially hidden within the thicket of her pubic hair.

Insanely ravenous for the taste of her, I slide back onto the bed, imprisoning her hips and lifting them up as I cupped her buttocks, raising her mound to my mouth as I hissed out a breath at the scent that met me. Biting gently at the soft skin of her inner thighs, I looked down at Rose spread out before me as though some great feast had been prepared for me and me alone.

Still tugging at her nipples, the flush of desire from her chest had spread to her cheekbones as she lay panting…wanting...begging, a light sheen of sweat covering us both as the excitement built unbearably.

"Please, Dimitri…please?"

Lunging forward, I buried my face between her thighs, plunging my tongue into the depths that wept for me, snaking it around her clitoris as the swollen bud pulsed against my tongue, flicking it back and forth with teasing motions as my fingers tightened around her buttocks. Gliding my tongue in long, sweeping strokes once, twice, three times, I sucked on her clit gently, not providing enough stimulation to send her into orgasm, but enough to make her arch and grind against my mouth in agony.

"Dimitri…no more. I want you inside me…now…oh, God!"

Pulling her towards me as I remained on my haunches, I wrapped her legs around my hips, manoeuvring her bodily so that her buttocks rested on the taught muscles of my thighs. Handling myself; shuddering at the stimulation as my testicles ached, I positioned the head of my cock at the entrance to her body, running the slick head up and down her cleft, adding her moisture to my own as I continued to tease us both, prolonging foreplay as long as I could.

Sinking slowly into her as I abandoned everything other than the feel of her, I watched as the thick cap pushed through the swollen folds; inch by inch disappearing into the clutching, wringing depths of her body until the entire shaft had been greedily sucked in. Groaning harshly at the feel of my wife's slick channel, I pulled back slowly, savouring the sensation until only the head remained within, rotating my hips counter clock-wise before plunging forward again, hissing out a breath as I heard Rose's breathy cry of pleasure.

Ploughing roughly forward again, I thrust with gritted teeth, keeping my fingers gripping her buttock gentle but not my forceful lunges. Feeling her muscles tighten with an almost strangling grip, I increased the speed, snapping my hips against her pubic bone as my testicles slapped moistly against her, watching as her restless fingers curled and clawed at the already scrunched sheet and bedspread and her head whipped from side to side, sending her long hair flying around her in carnal disarray.

Leaning forward, I slide my hands up her writhing back, lifting her off the bed until she straddled me as I leant back on my thighs, bringing her breasts into contact with my chest, growling at the feel of her rock-hard nipples scrapping against the pectoral muscles. Whimpering, Rose immediately curled her arms around my neck, sinking her fingers into my hair as she kissed me, her tongue curling around my own as our harsh breaths intermingled.

Feeling the rise of her climax, I shifted my stance, widening my legs and in turn widening hers as they lay trapped along the outside of my thighs, shuddering into my thrusts as her vaginal walls clenched and squeezed along the length of my cock, groaning into her mouth as she moaned, climaxing together as my back arched and my hips hammered in spasms that controlled every movement of my body.

Squeezing her tightly to me as we both continued to breathe harshly through the intensity of an orgasm that seemed to never end; the sweat from our skin gluing us together, I pressed my lips to her temple as she rested her head in the crook of my neck, clinging to me. The fulfilment of sexual release was there, but the connection we had always shared and continued to build on was the more potent of the experiences. It was why we were able to simply be near each other for hours at a time…why we were able to simply lie in bed together without having to do anything other than gaze at each other, saying nothing.

Smoothing her tangled hair away from her face, my lips travelled from her temple along her nose to her lips, lightly puckering against them as she chuckled weakly against me, slowly regaining her smart mouth. "If I had known telling you I was pregnant was going to create _that_ reaction, I would have told you a lot sooner. It's a good thing we only have to be back on duty tomorrow – I don't think I'm going to be able to move for the rest of the day."

Grinning broadly against her lips, I nipped gently at the full bottom one before flopping back onto the bed, taking her with me and anchoring her to my side as her legs continued to curl around my own, holding me to her as I gazed up at the pale beige ceiling whilst my left arm wrapped around her shoulders after brushing aside the damp strands of hair sticking to my forehead. "You don't have to tell me that you're pregnant to elicit that kind of reaction, Roza…I want you all the time." The wanting had never lessened, not for a single moment. "How are you feeling?"

Almost purring in satisfaction as she nuzzled against my jaw, Rose answered. "Wonderful," before resting her head in the crook of my damp neck.

Sliding my hand over her lower abdomen again, unable to keep myself from touching her there, I gently traced the tips of my fingers over the smooth skin, still marvelling that I was going to be a father. In truth, I had doubts as to whether or not Rose would ever be ready for this, but now that I knew otherwise, the potential of the child we would raise together was endless. Moulding a child's path, whatever that path would be, was a heady thought. A parent's ability to influence the course of their future was great of course, but to see that child's personal choices and desires was even greater.

"What do you want…boy or girl?"

"Girl," I replied without hesitation as I heard the curiosity in her voice. _Healthy_ probably should have been my first response, but the child would be Dhampir, so the automatic assumption that it would healthier than any normal infant was already a given, not to mention what the Spirit influence would add…my answer had been based on personal preference. If we only had one or if we had a handful more, I wanted them to all be girls – girls who emulated their mother in every way and plagued the rest of my days with love, humour and playful irreverence.

"No," was Rose's immediate response to my daydream as she propped herself up on an elbow and looked down at me with an expression that was almost panicked. "I want a boy, and as I'm the mother, I veto your girl. Sorry, comrade."

Tilting my chin up, I nuzzled against her own as I asked the obvious, knowing already what her reply would be as I failed to keep the amusement from my voice. "Why not a girl, Roza? Just think about it. A perfect, miniature version of you." Although it was what I wanted, I suddenly envisioned my teenaged daughter and the boys she would attract if she looked anything like her mother – the thought set my teeth on edge. Reputation aside, I might actually have to threaten a few to get my point across.

"Seriously?" she scoffed, as her expression of alarm changed to incredulity and I strangled a laugh. "My delinquency record at the academy started when I was four, Dimitri… _four_ , and it only got worse going in. _I_ know what I was like when I hit puberty, but you don't because you only met me _after_ the worst of it was over. Trust me; it's better if it's a boy, that way he will be like you and not like me…studious, disciplined…easy to handle."

Chuckling at her explanation, I stated the obvious. "I met you _after_ the worst was over? Really? I thought I got the brunt of it whilst I was training you? It certainly felt like it sometimes. In those first few weeks together, it felt like you were doing everything you could to take my head off, Rose."

"Ha ha ha" she replied, pressing her lips to mine as she kissed me lightly whilst trying to hide her smile, "very funny. But that was only because I was trying to hide the fact that every time I was around you, all could think about was jumping you, comrade…and because you pissed me off constantly. Do you have any idea how angry I was that you found us and dragged us back to St. Vlad's?"

Yes, I had known actually, but it had been necessary. Not only for her future, but for Lissa's as well. It was unsettling to think that everything I now had might never have been, had I not found them. How a split second mistake could have cost us our advantage and they could have simply disappeared into the night without a trace; Rose's resourcefulness knew no bounds. How would the events that had unfolded during the last months that followed gone had that happened? Would Victor Dashkov's true intentions ever have been discovered? Would I have accepted Tasha Ozera's offer? Would the attack on St Vladimir's have turned out differently…would I still be Strigoi?

Not wanting to remember the darker times when the light of our love now shone so brightly, I pushed it aside as I always did and reminded her of an earlier comment instead. "Of course I knew how angry you were, don't you remember trying to attack me when you were so heavily outnumbered and already weak from blood loss? And by the way, what makes you think I was a perfectly behaved child?" I asked, whilst trying to cajole a deeper kiss from her. "I've told you already how often I was sent to my room by my grandmother for misbehaving." Truthfully, my delinquency was nowhere near as prolific as Rose's, but for the sake of the argument, I brought it up.

"Yes," was her answer whilst indulging me with the kiss that I wanted. "But you didn't throw a book at your teacher whilst their back was turned when you were four or call them a 'fascist bastard' either, so I win."

Shaking my head at her illogical logic; knowing that I could never win against the convoluted reasoning her brain concocted, I gave up trying to argue, opting instead to concentrate on touching her as I thought about the reaction of my family to this news. My mother and sisters had long tried to convince Rose that having children would not automatically mean the end to her Guardianship and as Yeva had pointed out only last year, the choice was always the mothers. She herself had given up the duties she had sworn to have my mother, but as much as she expected others to follow her example, she knew that for Rose, it would never be an option…she understood and respected that now, but it had not always been the case.

The relationship between my wife and grandmother had not always been smooth, but there was a huge amount of mutual admiration between the two. It was an unspoken respect, but it was still there. As if knowing where my thoughts lay as I mentioned Yeva, Rose groaned suddenly against me as she flopped down onto my chest in sudden defeat.

"Yeva is going to say _I told you so_ , I know it…so help me, Dimitri, if she does, I'm not going to be held responsible for my actions, old woman or not."

Knowing she was still chafing from the almost pin-point accuracy of Yeva's prediction of our marriage, I hugged her tightly to me, laughing against her as she was lightly jostled by the movement, but I was too content to say anything else, simply enjoying the moment of perfect harmony and bliss, unfortunately, the next words out of Rose's mouth ruined that slightly and put me on alert.

"I'm going to have to tell my parents about this; I can't keep them in the dark forever – I actually think they'll enjoy being grandparents, god knows they couldn't muck it up any worse than being actual parents. Do you want to go into hiding before I do that? I can give you as much advanced warning as you like." Smugly teasing as she raised her head and propped her chin on my cheek, Rose waggled her eyebrows at me.

Shaking my head at her as another smile curled around my mouth, I thought about my formidable father-in-law. The Turkish Abe Mazur was an earth-wielding Moroi and an _entrepreneur_ by trade – and I say that word lightly, as his business dealings were somewhat shady. He was also more than a tad overprotective of his daughter and only child. The fact that she was now twenty-six and would be a mother by time she was twenty-seven was going to create a few awkward moments in the future, despite the fact that I was her husband. The man had never intimidated me, but he was still my father-in-law and I was certain that if he wanted to, he could make life more unpleasant for me than it needed to be.

"Remember when I told you that you were worth any flak I would catch from your parents, Rose? I meant it then and I mean it now. Besides, your mother adores me; she'll straighten out your father." My relationship with my mother-in-law was not nearly as formal and she didn't level veiled threats at me every time her child was out of ear-shot.

Scoffing lightly at my words, Rose traced light patterns over my chest as I continued to caress her, not quite believing that Janine could ever protect me from Abe. "Well, it's true about the adoration part, but Abe is still going to give you shit, no matter what my mother says. We'll just have to put you in protective custody until the baby is born."

"As long as you're with me all the time, I have no complaints about that." I teased back, knowing that it would drive us both insane to be inactive for the long a period of time. Exhaling with a deep sense of male satisfaction, I felt my lids growing heavier as I held my wife safely in my arms, never more thankful that she had, had the good sense to still love me when I had all but given up on myself.

"Hey, comrade?" Rose asked minutes later as she propped herself up on her elbows and pressed tiny kisses to my mouth, leaning over me to reach the side farthest away as her generous breasts pressed tightly against my chest.

"Hmmm?" I answered distractedly, still absorbed in our miracle and not really paying attention to the tone of her voice or her mouth as I turned towards her slightly whilst keeping my hand cupped possessively over her abdomen.

"As enjoyable as that was and yes, I did have an ulterior motive in mind when I sent you out for the food…I'm still hungry." Slapping the flat of her palm against my right buttock, she growled playfully against me. "Feed me!"

Sniggering, I opened my eyes fully as I nipped back at her with care. "Roza, if you're this hungry now, what are you going to be like further into the pregnancy?" Already it felt like feeding her was a full time occupation.

Pursing her mouth to the side, she considered my question for a few seconds. "Insatiable…as always, I suppose, for _everything_." Cocking a brow, she asked boldly, "Are you prepared for that? Are you prepared for everything that comes with pregnancy? I'm difficult to deal with on a good day, add hormones, swollen feet, compressed bladder and raging mood swings to that mix and you might divorce me before I deliver."

Shaking my head with amusement at her warning, I cupped her jaw as I pulled her down for a deeper kiss. "Never…I will never let you get away from me and to answer your question; yes, my beautiful Roza, I am prepared – for all of it; I always have been…I have never been more certain of anything in my life."

~ The End. ~

P.S. – It was a girl. Her father was ecstatic; her mother was terrified…and they named her Mason Rose.


End file.
